https://www.facebook.com/838435172681807/

Woodland Wisdom

Home
United Kingdom
Bolton
Woodland Wisdom

We are nature. Reconnecting to ourselves and the rest of the natural world. Nature connection and coaching - services and page in development. Events coming soon!

06/06/2026

Just a bee on some catmint 🐝

Sometimes it's the little moments in the middle of a busy day.

There were lots of them today. Clearly catmint is a fave!

31/05/2026

Writing about trees is one of my favourite things ever, so it was particularly special for me that this week’s nature connection session was focused on what lessons and insights our postgrad researchers could get from the trees around us.

It feels ungrateful to complain about warm sunny days in the UK when we get so few of them, but I was particularly indebted to this beautiful Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) for providing such wonderful shade while I pondered her wisdom. With huge leaves and a dense foliage, I felt truly protected by this mature Aesculus, and thought about how many creatures might use her branches for their own shelter. Birds, insects and small mammals, hiding from the weather, from predators, making a home to raise their young.

I studied her leaves, the different shapes and sizes, the lack of symmetry, the blemishes that made each one unique. They were all still growing, and supporting the whole tree, reminding me that nothing in nature is perfect and that it doesn’t need to be.

Already fading were her huge candle-like flowers, soon to be transformed into the chestnuts that most of us know from childhood conker fights. And yet in the middle, that transformation is happening quietly and without ceremony, reassuring me that growth doesn’t always have to be loud. Often it goes on in the background, without anyone noticing, and that’s OK.

Horse Chestnuts are not native to the UK, and generally grow alone because they need a lot of light and space, and don’t share the mycorrhizal networks of our native woodlands. They often look to me like they’re standing guard, on a solitary mission the purpose of which only they know. While the underground community our trees create is undoubtedly one of the most special aspects of our natural world, I quite like that there is also room for species to contribute in different ways, however they are able.

One of the students this week reflected on how the tree she was studying was kind, because it allowed so many other creatures to live in it, and I think that applies to my tree too. I certainly felt very cared for during our time together 🌳

19/05/2026

When I was younger it was a crab apple tree in a playing field near my grandparents' house. Me, my brother and friend had a tree gang, I've forgotten the name of it.

We used to pick the apples, put them on sticks and see how far we could launch them across the stream. Bonus points if we hit one of the trees at the other side.

Do you have any favourite tree stories? I'd love to hear them if you do 🙏🌳

12/05/2026

My beautiful beech tree friend has new leaves and nuts 🌳

It's a special part of my life visiting her throughout the year, seeing how she changes and taking reassurance from her that growth is still happening, despite everything that makes me feel like it's not.

She's a common or European beech (Fagus sylvatica) and at this time of year the leaf buds from a few weeks ago have unfurled into new spring leaves and beech nuts, both of which are edible while they're this young.

For me though, beech is a symbol of grounding, deep thought and ancestral wisdom. Beeches have been used in healing rituals for generations, and in folklore they were the keepers of memories.

No wonder then that I feel so at peace every time I visit this tree, and let her take away some of life's heaviness and remind me that each of us has purpose and meaning.

(Gentle reminder to do your own research before consuming anything from nature).

09/05/2026

Sometimes, when life is heavy, you just need to go into the woods and breathe 💜

01/05/2026

Today is special for so many reasons.

It's Beltane, the 1st of May and a celebration of fertility, growth and the beautiful fiery energy of summer not far away.

The start of a month is a perfect time to cleanse your home and set new intentions for the month ahead. I do this by blowing cinnamon through my door and inviting new good energy into my space.

And we have the gorgeous Flower Full Moon tonight, in Scorpio. A time to review how far we've come, celebrate personal growth and reflect on what we want to take into the next lunar month. Plus the energy of the full moon is the best time to forage flowers and leaves as the energy is pulled up from the Earth into what grows above the ground.

I spent the early morning foraging dandelions in the sunshine, singing to the Earth and feeling incredibly grateful for this beautiful life on this beautiful planet.

Happy Beltane 🌞💜

28/04/2026

Such a lovely nature connection session today with some uni researchers focusing on colour and shade.

How often do you really look at a flower, and all its colours? Or examine a patch of grass and see the different shapes and shades of green.

I don't think I'll ever get bored of studying nature. It's too beautiful. Especially in spring 🌿💜

22/04/2026

This Earth Day's theme is a beautiful reminder that we have the power, and responsibility, to care for our planet.

So this Earth Day, I encourage you to pause and reflect about how you do this, and how else you could be using your personal power to make a difference.

Discover more about Earth Day on their website: https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2026/

19/04/2026

It's really important for me to feel my feet against the Earth.

Not just because that's how we connect better to our planet's electromagnetic field (which reduces inflammation in the body among other things). But because I want to feel that connection to place. To better feel the energy of being held and supported and nurtured by where I am.

I'm lucky to live somewhere very pretty. During lockdown I wandered these hills exploring the paths, wondering about the people who created them, and who walked them before me.

Now I walk these paths feeling into the energy of what grows here. The medicines we have under our feet. The ancestors that would have known these lands and these plants and respected and cared for them in a way we've forgotten.

You might look at this field and see weeds. I see the healing powers of dandelion and ribwort plantain and daisy. I wonder at the stories they can tell us. The ways we've grown in community with them, in relationship with their gifts.

Nothing means more to me than recapturing that. One walk, one plant, one story at a time 🌿

09/04/2026

Yesterday I went to sit with the dandelions in my garden for a bit.

It's so easy to rush through life without really paying attention to it. Small mindful moments throughout the day help me to stay grounded, and dandelions are one of my favourite plants. I let them grow wild in my garden, much to my mum's disgust.

Ruby Wax has written some great books on mindfulness, and taught me that you can't think while you're using your senses. Mindful moments are a complete break from a busy brain. Very needed at the moment!

Not everyone is suited to still meditation, the kind where you're encouraged to observe your thoughts instead of berating yourself for having any, and weirdly that's often harder.

I'm an active meditator, which is why I like forest bathing. A brain switch off while I walk and smell flowers, touch tree bark and listen to the birds in symphony.

So this is your reminder to focus, for moments of your day, on how the washing up water feels on your hands, how the light dances on a leaf, the background hum of passing cars.

Life can pass quickly and your brain deserves little rests as much as your body does. 💜

Address

Bolton

Website

facebook.com

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Woodland Wisdom posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Woodland Wisdom:

Shortcuts

Want your business to be the top-listed Health & Beauty Business in Bolton?